Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an iconic masterpiece, but do you know these eight surprising facts about Edward Albee’s American play?

Olivier Award winners Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill star alongside Luke Treadaway and Imogen Poots – making her West End debut – in what the Telegraph calls “a flawless production” of Edward Albee’s masterpiece Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. The play will be broadcast live into cinemas from the Harold Pinter Theatre on Thursday 18 May as part of National Theatre Live. Here are eight surprising facts about Edward Albee’s classic American play.

Got its title from barroom graffiti

Playwright Edward Albee got the play’s title from some graffiti on a barroom mirror on 10th Street in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1954. He was having a beer when he saw, “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?” written on the big mirror of a dive bar. “It did strike me as being a rather typical university, intellectual joke,” said Albee.

George and Martha were based on real people

George and Martha are based on Albee’s close friends, the experimental filmmakers Willard Maas and Marie Menken. The couple were known for their infamous parties, where drinking would “commence at 4pm on Friday and end in the wee hours of the night on Monday”, according to one witness. In Andy Warhol’s words: “Willard and Marie were the last of the great bohemians. They wrote and filmed and drank – their friends called them ‘scholarly drunks’.”

Trouble and strife: George and Martha were based on feisty filmmakers Willard Maas and Marie MenkenCredit:
Johan Persson

George and Martha are named after the first American President and his wife

Albee made an oblique joke by naming his principals after George Washington, the founding president of the United States, and his wife Martha.

Most productions steer clear of using the famous Disney song

Early on in the play, Martha says that somebody was singing the song Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? at the party they’ve just returned from, and goes on to sing the famous song from the 1933 Disney cartoon The Three Little Pigs. However most productions have her sing the lyrics to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. Why? Because there have been several court cases over who actually owns the rights to the song, hence most productions steer clear. Recently that’s all been settled. So this Harold Pinter Theatre production uses the original Disney tune as Edward Albee intended.

Presidential precedent: Albee took George and Martha's names from the first president of the United States and his wifeCredit:
Rex

Pulitzer Prize jurors resigned over the play

The jurors of the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Drama resigned in protest after their decision to award the prize to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was overruled. The Pulitzer advisory board – the trustees of Columbia University – rejected the recommendation because of the play’s profanity and sexual references, awarding no Pulitzer Prize for drama that year. Never mind. The play won both the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1962-63 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play.

Contrary to myth, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is not really about homosexuality

Some critics and directors interpret the play as being about four gay men sniping at each other. This interpretation at first amused and then annoyed Albee, who would reach for his lawyer to shut down productions of the play with all-male casts. “If I had wanted to write a play about four homosexuals, I would have done so,” he said. “Well, I’m sure that all the actresses from Uta Hagen to Elizabeth Taylor who’ve played the role of Martha would be absolutely astonished to learn they’ve been playing men.”

Bette Davis and James Mason were set to star in the movie version

Albee was particularly delighted by the prospect of Davis playing Martha, especially as the character quotes a Bette Davis movie (“What a dump!”) in the first scene. Both actors were in their late fifties, so were the right ages for the roles. But Warner Bros. decided bigger stars were needed. Elizabeth Taylor had the right pulling power to fuel a box-office hit, but as one of the most beautiful women in the world, Albee felt she was ill-suited to play a bitter, middle-aged harridan. “I was a little upset by the casting,” Albee said. “I understood the commercial reasons behind it. I mean, Elizabeth and Richard [Burton] were getting married and divorced a lot, and yelling at each other a great deal. So I suppose they thought it was perfect casting, even though Elizabeth was 20 years too young for the role and Richard was about five years too old.”

Not open to interpretation: Edward Albee objected to suggestions that Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was about four homosexual menCredit:
Rex

In fact, the casting was so spot-on that Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? became the first motion picture where all four main roles were nominated for Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Actress).

Albee came around when he saw the Oscar-winning film, though he always said a Davis/Mason version would have been “deeper”.

Everybody has parodied the play from The Simpsons to Benny Hill

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is such an iconic masterpiece that it is regularly parodied on TV. The Simpsons, American Dad, Third Rock from the Sun and US satirical show Saturday Night Live have all done parodies, the latter starring Charlize Theron as a sozzled Martha. However the best parody may have come from Britain’s own Benny Hill, who played both George and Martha in a skit. His impersonation of Richard Burton as George is pitch-perfect. Hill also spoofs the lacerating put-downs the play is famous for: “Do you remember our wedding night? You were so eager, you didn’t even give me time to take my stockings off,” gushes Martha. “Tonight you’ll have time to knit yourself a pair,” growls George.

Outstanding screen play

More than 6.5 million people worldwide have experienced the magic of live theatre from the comfort of their local cinema since National Theatre Live started broadcasting eight years ago.

Check out tgr.ph/ntlive for features on productions, past and present, plus details on how NT Live is filmed.